Jose Mourinho
Rio Ferdinand believes individual mistakes are ‘killing’ Tottenham, and it means they are not ready yet to consistently challenge for major honours.
Tottenham’s 30-year wait for an FA Cup will go on after their thrilling 5-4 defeat at Everton in the fifth round of the competition at Goodison Park.
But despite their attacking prowess and goals from Davinson Sanchez, Erik Lamela and Harry Kane, Spurs’ display was blighted by individual errors, most notably from Hugo Lloris for Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s equaliser to make it 1-1.
The defeat – which was sealed when Bernard scored in extra time – meant Spurs had won just one of their last five games across all competitions, with Sunday’s Premier League victory against West Brom their only recent success.
And former defender Ferdinand insists he “feels sorry” for Mourinho, who he claims regularly has to deal with his plans being derailed due to his side’s proclivity to commit individual mistakes.
“I actually feel sorry for him (Mourinho) in some ways, because in recent weeks he has changed quite a few times in the way they have approached games,” Ferdinand said.
“West Brom was a bit different but it changed when Harry Kane wasn’t playing for example, and now tonight they were open and expansive.
“But each and every one of those times, they are being undone by individual moments and errors.
“As a manager you can prepare all you like for each game, but these individual errors will be killing you, so in that sense I feel sorry for him because sometimes it derails his whole plan that he has worked on all week,” he said.
Asked whether the issue regarding individual mistakes was to do with the quality of players at Mourinho’s disposal, Ferdinand added, “It is a quality thing.
“There are too many players consistently making mistakes and it is leaving them open and making them have to chase games some of the time.
“Until they get that right and eradicate those types of mistakes, they can never really consider themselves a team that is really going to challenge consistently.
“Mistakes lead to goals, which leave you chasing and leave you open, and that causes problems consistently.”